Former ombudsman says he would testify again in Vance probe
Testimony ‘not going to change,’ Walbourne says
Canada’s former military ombudsman says he would be willing to testify alongside the defence minister at a parliamentary committee about the handling of an allegation made against retired general Jonathan Vance when Vance was chief of the defence staff.
“If they want me to come back, my testimony is not going to change. The truth is the truth and I can repeat that very easily,” Gary Walbourne said in an interview.
“There’s a lot of politics going on, but at some point in time we’re going to have to focus back on those who have been victimized and get them the proper supports they want.”
The standing committee on national defence has been probing the handling by the Liberal government of an allegation made against Vance in 2018. As part of its study, it has heard testimony once from Walbourne and on three occasions from Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan.
Conservative MPs have put forward a motion to summon Sajjan’s former chief of staff, Zita Astravas, to testify at the committee, noting that she has not appeared in the past despite being called. Should the motion pass and Astravas still does not appear, the motion calls for Sajjan and Walbourne to return to the committee and testify side by side, with the opposition saying there are key differences in their testimony that need to be addressed. Walbourne raised an allegation against Vance in a private meeting with Sajjan on March 1, 2018.
Astravas sought advice from the Prime Minister’s Office, which in turn asked the Privy Council Office to get more information from Walbourne about the allegation. He refused to provide any, as the complainant had not given him permission to do so.
Debate on the Conservative motion — which is backed by the NDP and Bloc Québécois — is expected to resume Friday, after the Liberal members filibustered at Tuesday’s meeting, preventing a vote.
One area of dispute has been whether the government was aware of the nature of the allegation. Walbourne is adamant he told Sajjan it was related to “inappropriate sexual behaviour,” but Sajjan says he was given no details.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has maintained his staff was unaware of the nature of the allegation, but emails and other sources confirm it was of a sexual nature.
Walbourne said he has questions of his own after listening to committee testimony in the past few weeks. For example, Trudeau’s chief of staff Katie Telford said she didn’t know the nature of the allegation, but said she received assurances that there was no “safety issue.”
Walbourne questions how Telford could have received assurances there was no safety issue while also saying she didn’t know the nature of the allegation.